New Year's Hawke
by Mychand
Summary: Hawke and Caitlin run into some trouble on New Year's Eve.
1. Chapter 1

**New Year's Hawke**

"Ugh," said Hawke as he picked up the payphone and called Dom. "Dom, we've gone to three places and we can't find what you wanted."

"Try one more place," pleaded Dom. "I know Sammy's out on highway seven will have it. He always carries it. You should have gone there first. I can't make this recipe without it and I really wanted it for tonight."

Hawke sighed deeply. "Fine, we'll try there but if they don't have it, we're heading back to the cabin. It's getting late and everything will be closed soon."

"Fine, fine," said Dom. "See you when you get here."

Caitlin laughed at the disgusted look on Hawke's face. "One more place huh?" she asked. "Okay, let's get going."

They climbed back into the red, white, and blue jeep and headed to the next store.

"He said to try Sammy's. I don't know why Dom has to make this stuff every New Year's Eve," complained Hawke. "You'd think he'd get tired of it and try something new."

Caitlin shrugged. "I guess he like traditions," she replied. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"I guess not," replied Hawke. "I just wish he'd thought about what he needed ahead of time instead of making us drive all around for it at the minute."

"Come on," said Caitlin. "It's down the road. It won't take us long."

Within minutes, the two reached their destination. Caitlin looked at the sign on the door and jumped out of the jeep. "He's closing in ten minutes so we'd better hurry," she said.

Hawke jumped out and followed her to the door, grabbing it and opening it for her.

Caitlin called out to the man behind the counter as they entered. "Hey Sam," she yelled. "Happy New Year!"

Sam smiled. "Let me guess," he said. "Dom needs his secret ingredient again."

Hawke laughed. "Yeah, he does this to me every New Year's Eve. You'd think I'd have learned by now. We've been all over town."

"You know I always carry that for Dom," chided Sam. "It's on isle seven at the end."

"Thanks," replied Hawke as he headed to the back of the small store.

Caitlin waited for him up at the counter. "So what are your plans for the night?" she asked Sam.

"Oh, just going to do some inventory for a couple of hours and then have a quiet evening with the wife," he replied with a smile. "It's my favorite way to spend New Year's Eve."

Caitlin smiled. "A quiet night sounds nice," she replied. "You two have been married quite some time now huh?"

"Oh yeah," he replied. "Going on forty-five years now."

Before Caitlin could reply, a man wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun stormed into the store. He told them to stay where they were as he turned, locked the door behind him and changed the open sign to closed.

"Look," said Sam. "There isn't a lot of money in here but you're welcome to it. Just take it and leave."

Hawke, who had been so busy concentrating on getting the correct ingredients for Dom hadn't noticed the situation until he was heading back towards the front of the store.

Startled, the man whirled around and shot at Hawke. Caitlin couldn't help but scream out Hawke's name. When she ran to help him, the man shot out several bottles above her head as a warning. One of the bottles fell and hit her on the head, knocking her to the ground.

"Don't make me shoot a woman!" screamed the man. "I don't believe in hurting women."

Sam tried to stay calm. "Here, come and get what you want," he told the man. "Please just let me check on my friends."

"Go ahead," said the man as he ran behind the counter and began scooping up the money from the register.

Sam stopped beside Caitlin first. He felt that her pulse was strong but she had a cut above her right eye and she was unconscious. Next he moved quickly to Hawke. He had been shot in the left side.

"Cait!" Hawke called out, his breathing labored.

"She'll be fine," said Sam. "You need to keep still."

Sam watched as the man finished emptying the register. "You have a safe?" asked the man. "I want access to your safe."

"I'll show you," he replied. "But will you please let me go to the next isle and get some medical supplies?"

"Open your safe and you can get all the supplies you need," said the man.

Sam obliged the man, showing him the safe in the back office. While he was gone, Hawke moved slowly over to Caitlin, trying to avoid further injury with all of the glass that surrounded her on the floor.

When they came back out the man yelled. "I didn't tell you to move," he told Hawke. "Go get what you need old man. I'm going to put the three of you back in that storage room before I leave."

Sam grabbed a small hand basket and filled it up with as much medical supplies as he could.

"Take that to the back room and then carry them back there," the man demanded.

Sam picked up Caitlin and carried her to the room. He gently placed her on the floor before going back to get Hawke.

When he got back to String, he was alarmed at the amount of blood he seemed to have lost. "Look, my friend here needs to get to the hospital soon," he told the man. "I'm sure you don't want a murder rap hanging over you."

The man smirked. "What makes you think I don't already have a murder rap old man," he replied. "One more isn't going to change anything."

Sam threw Hawke's arm around his neck and helped him to the storage room. Once inside, the man slammed the door behind him and he could hear the padlock being placed on the hinge and clicked shut.

Looking down at Caitlin and Hawke, the knowledge from all his years as a medic quickly kicked in. "This is not how I wanted to spend my New Year's Eve," he said softly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sam used the medical supplies he brought to the back along with other supplies stored in the room to help stop the bleeding of Hawke's wound. He bandaged him the best that he could. Next, he found several hand towels on one of the shelves took a bottle of water out of the refrigerated compartment and lightly soaked two towels. Noticing he was gradually building a fever, he placed one on Hawke's forehead.

Hawke shivered at the touch of it and then slowly opened his eyes. "Caitlin?" he asked. "Is she okay?"

"Just relax," said Sam. "I'm getting ready to check on her now."

Hawke turned his head and watched as Sam moved to Caitlin. He gently touched the side of her head with the cool rag causing her to flinch and open her eyes. She quickly tried to sit up but a wave of dizziness overtook her.

"Whoa there," said Sam. "Take it easy."

Caitlin propped herself up in a sitting position with one arm. "String?" she said, trying not to panic. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he tried to assure her but his raspy voice told her otherwise. "Let Sam look at you."

"Okay," she replied hesitantly.

"Looks like a minor cut," said Sam as he put a bandage on her forehead. "You have a nasty bump too but I don't think it's anything serious."

Caitlin tried to give him a slight smile. "Thanks," she said. "I forgot you were a medic. Is Hawke going to be okay?"

Sam looked down at Hawke. "I've stopped the bleeding. Looks like the bullet went right through him. My only concern is that he has a fever that is building quite rapidly. We need to get him to the hospital."

Caitlin stood up carefully and went to the door. "How can we get out of here?" she asked.

"That's the only way out," he told her. "He put the padlock on. All we can do is wait and hope someone comes looking for us. My wife isn't expecting me for several more hours though."

"Dom knows where we went," assured Caitlin. "I'm sure he'll come when he realizes we've been gone too long."

Hawke began to cough uncontrollably. "Unless he thinks we kept looking for his stuff," he told them between coughs.

Caitlin ran back over to Hawke and sat down by him, putting his head in her lap to help make him more comfortable.

Sam looked around the room. "I think I may have some pillows in a box in here somewhere. I don't normally sell them but they were for some sort of promotion. There might even be a few blankets in there too."

A few minutes later he pulled down a large box from one of the shelves. "Yeah, here they are," he said. "It's from a cigarette promotion."

He handed Caitlin one of the pillows. She supported Hawke's head and gently shifted back to put the pillow under him in place of her legs. Sam took the blanket and spread it out over Hawke who was slightly shivering.

"I'm afraid all we can do now is wait," said Sam with a sigh.

Caitlin stayed close to Hawke. She took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "Hang on String," she said softly. "Someone has to come looking for us soon."

Hawke squeezed her hand back. "Don't worry," he replied. "I'll be okay." Then, trying to get her focus off of him, he asked "Sam how did you and Dom meet? He's told me a lot of stories about you two over the years but he's never mentioned that."

Sam laughed. "Yeah well that's a night that old Santini doesn't really want to remember," he replied. "But what the hell, I'll tell you about it anyway."

"Oh, why is that?" asked Caitlin.

Sam smiled. "Let's just say that when I first met him he had been shot," said Sam. "He was madder than hell. It wasn't the fact that he got shot that made him mad either. It was where he got shot."

Caitlin shot him a confused look. "Where?" she asked.

"Right in the ass!" Sam tried to say with a straight face.

"Don't make me laugh," said Hawke while clutching his side. "It hurts too much."

"Oh sorry son," replied Sam. "But it was a funny story. I mean it was only a flesh wound but he couldn't sit down for quite some time after that."

"I can see why he never told us about it," replied Caitlin. "But, he's told us a lot of good stories about you."

"Yeah, we don't get together that much these days but I do have a lot of fond memories of Santini," replied Sam. "I know he talks a lot about you two whenever I see him."

Caitlin blushed slightly. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, he considers you two like his own," said Sam. "I'm just sorry you got caught up in this mess. This is the third robbery I've had in six months. I'm beginning to think it's about time to close up and retire."

"It's not your fault," replied String.

Caitlin and Sam couldn't help but notice that his condition seemed to be worsening. Caitlin tried hard to hide her concern but the situation was starting to get to her.

"Do you have any more water?" she asked.

"Yeah, I have quite a bit in the refrigeration unit over there," replied Sam. "It might be good to let Hawke have a little. The last thing he needs is to be dehydrated."

Caitlin got a bottle out and gave a little to Hawke before drinking some herself. Then she took the rag that was on his forehead and poured the cool water on it before wringing it out slightly and placing it back on his head.

String shivered again but welcomed the cool relief. "Thanks," he said softly.

Sam stared at the two as Caitlin grabbed Hawke's hand again and held it tightly.

"I see what Dom means about these two," he thought to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, last chapter for tonight. Thanks for reviewing! I'm sure I'll add more tomorrow._

**Chapter 3**

Hawke struggled to keep his eyes open. The pain in his side was becoming numb and he realized the situation wasn't looking too good for him.

"Hang on Hawke," Caitlin whispered to him. "Please hang on."

Sam couldn't help but notice that Caitlin's eyes began to water as Hawke eventually slipped into unconsciousness.

"You know, I knew my wife for over two years before we ever started dating," he told her.

Caitlin wiped the tears from her eyes. "Really?" she asked. "What took so long?"

"Oh, I guess you could say that I considered myself a ladies' man and I didn't think I was ready to settle down," he replied. "I knew she was the one the day I met her. I just wasn't sure I was good enough for her. She knew though. She was patient and didn't gave up on me. I love her more everyday and I'm thankful that she waited."

"Sounds like true love," replied Caitlin as she stared at Hawke. "I wish I could find that."

"Haven't you?" asked Sam, referring to Hawke.

Caitlin looked up at him in surprise. "You mean with String?" she asked. "I kind of doubt that."

"Why?" he asked. "Because he's just as stubborn as me? It's not hard to tell how much you love him."

"I don't think he sees it," she replied. "It doesn't matter anyway. He definitely doesn't feel the same way."

"Well my wife thought the same thing," said Sam. "Even though she waited all that time for me, there were a few times when she nearly gave up and moved on."

"What stopped her?" asked Caitlin.

"She knew in her heart that I was the only one she could ever really love," he replied. "I felt the same. It just took me a little longer to come around."

"So you think Hawke will eventually come around huh?" she asked.

Sam gave her a slight smile. "He already has, you just don't see it," he replied. "The look on his face when you were hurt gave him away."

"What made you come around?" she asked him, trying to change the subject.

"One night her sister was in a bad accident," he replied. "We got the news that a Wilson girl was in a coma but no one knew which one. That drive to the hospital was the longest one of my life even though it was only five minutes away."

"You thought it was her?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did," he replied. "When I got there and saw her standing in the hallway I nearly lost it. I grabbed her and told her that I loved her and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her."

"Did her sister make it?" asked Caitlin.

"Sure," he replied. "She was maid of honor in our wedding. It was the happiest day of my life until our two children were born."

"Sounds like the perfect love story," said Caitlin as she shifted her position beside Hawke on the floor.

"It wasn't always perfect," he replied. "Nothing in life is. But, with love and hard work, you can overcome anything."

Caitlin was silent for awhile. She gently stroked Hawke's hair before adding more cool water to the towel on his forehead.

"How did the two of you meet?" Sam asked, finally speaking up.

Caitlin sighed. "He came to Texas to help out a friend and ended up helping me," she said.

"With Airwolf?" he asked.

Caitlin shot him a confused look.

"Oh, I know about Airwolf," he told her. "Long story but I helped Dom and Hawke out once before you came along."

"I didn't know that," she replied. "Well, this sheriff and his men were trying to keep me out of their business. They were doing a lot of illegal things. Hawke and Dom saved me from them. We ended up finding his friend's remains in the desert and I brought him back to California. I looked up Hawke and found my way to Santini Air. I guess you could say that the rest is history."

Sam smiled. "They needed a woman around that place," he told her.

"I agree," Sting said softly as he opened his eyes and stared at them.

"Hawke!" Caitlin said excitedly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like hell," he replied. "But I'm hanging on. Don't worry about me."

Caitlin shook her head. "I can't help but worry. You know that."

"Thirsty," he replied. "Can I have some water?"

"Oh sure," said Caitlin as she grabbed the bottle and gave him a drink.

String winced in pain as he tried to sit up. "No, stay down," ordered Sam. "You need to keep still."

"What time is it?" asked Hawke as he complied with Sam's demand.

"It's almost eight," replied Caitlin. "We've been in here two hours. Hopefully Dom has figured out that something is wrong by now."

"I sure hope so," replied Sam as he checked on Hawke's wound. "This needs to be treated soon and I don't have anything else in here that will help."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As Caitlin gave Hawke another sip of water, she could feel the heat radiating from his body. She and Sam talked with him awhile to calm him as he suddenly became a bit agitated. Little by little his speech became erratic and it was apparent to them that he was delirious.

"Why did you do that Caitlin?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Caitlin looked at Sam and then back at Hawke. "Do what?" she replied while gently stroking his hair.

"Come and get me," he said. "You shouldn't have come."

Caitlin shrugged her shoulders. "You mean in the store?"

"Store? What store?" asked Hawke before continuing. "Where am I?"

"We're locked in a storeroom remember?" Caitlin said softly. "Shhh….take it easy."

Sam drenched a new towel with cool water and Caitlin placed it on Hawke's forehead. He gave her a second one to wipe his face with as the sweat was beading down his flushed cheeks.

"The fever is pretty high now," said Sam. "I pray they find us soon."

"Cait, why did you come?" he asked her again.

"Why did I come where?" she replied, wanting to answer him but knowing he wasn't in his right frame of mind.

"Horn…..why did you come?" he asked. "Too dangerous…..could have killed you."

Caitlin looked down and noticed he was staring up at her. His eyes were glazed over but she could tell he was trying to focus on her. "I couldn't leave you there," she replied. "I would do anything for you."

"Why?" he asked softly. "Why….." he said again as he drifted off.

Tears ran down Caitlin's face. "Because I love you," she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. "I always will."

A few moments later, Sam and Caitlin heard loud noises coming from outside of the storeroom.

"String! Caitlin!" yelled Dom.

"Dom!" Caitlin yelled back. "We're in here! Hurry, String's hurt!"

A few minutes later they heard the lock being removed from the door and Dom rushed in.

"Thank God you're here," Caitlin told him as she jumped up and gave him a hug. "Hawke's been shot. He's pretty bad off."

"Amelia, Sam's wife just called the police and an ambulance," Dom told them.

"How did you know how to find us?" asked Caitlin.

"When you didn't call or come back, I got worried so I headed to the last place I knew you'd been and saw that the jeep was still here," replied Dom. "I called Sam's house and Amelia said he should still be here too. When he didn't answer, she came out with the keys. That's when we saw the place had been shot up."

Sam jumped up as Amelia ran into the storeroom. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I was so worried," she told him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," replied Sam. "Poor String was shot and we need to get him to the hospital."

Dom squatted down by Hawke on the floor. "How bad is it?" he asked Sam.

"The bullet went through but there seems to be a pretty bad infection," replied Sam.

The next half hour seemed as though it were in slow motion for Caitlin. The police and an ambulance came quickly. Hawke was taken to the hospital and she followed along with Dom. String was immediately whisked away while the two sat in the waiting room.

"Honey, are you okay?" asked Dom when he finally noticed that Caitlin had a small bandage on her forehead. "Where you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"I think she needs to be checked out," said Sam as he came down the hall with his wife and overheard their conversation. "She was unconscious for several minutes after the shooting."

"Come on," Dom said as he stood up and grabbed her hand. "Let's go and have the doctor take a look at you."

Caitlin shook her head. "Dom, I'm fine," she insisted again. "I'm just worried about Hawke."

"He's being taken care of," replied Dom. "Right now, you're my concern."

"But Dom…" Caitlin tried to object but Santini wouldn't listen to her. He kept a tight hold of her hand and pulled her down the hall to the nurse's station to find a doctor to check her out.

_One more chapter should finish this one. I'll try to have it up later tonight or tomorrow night. :o)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks so much for the reviews! They mean a lot! Happy New Year everyone! _

**Chapter 5**

After finding a doctor to check out Caitlin, Dom sat in the waiting room with Sam and his wife.

"I sure wish they'd give us an update on String," Dom complained. "It has been nearly two hours."

"Just be patient," relied Sam. "I'm sure he's in good hands."

"He is," replied Michael as he came up and joined them. "I made sure he had the Firm's finest."

"Do you have any news on his condition?" asked Dom.

"Yes, they're moving him to a private room now," replied Michael. "Luckily the bullet went through him without doing harm to any major organs. He's being given an aggressive treatment of antibiotics. He still has a fever but the doctor said it's slowly decreasing and he's awake if you'd like to see him."

"That's great news," replied Sam. "I think we'll be heading out now. I would like to ring in the New Year at home."

Dom gave Sam and his wife each a hug. "Thanks for everything Sam," said Dom. "I'm glad you were there when String needed you."

"I'm just sorry he showed up at such a bad time," replied Sam. "Oh, I almost forgot."

Sam handed Dom a small package. "I think you might still need this."

Dom grinned. "I definitely forgot," he replied. "Thanks and Happy New Year."

After they left, Michael escorted Dom to Hawke's room. Dom was surprised to see that he was still awake. His face was slightly flushed but he looked better than he did when Dom first saw him.

"Hey String," said Dom as he sat down beside his bed. "Good to see you're doing better. How're you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot," Hawke replied sarcastically. "I never thought I'd be spending New Year's Eve like this but I have to say I'm thankful to be alive."

"The doctor said you're going to be fine," replied Michael. "You're responding well to the antibiotics so far. You're pretty lucky that it wasn't worse."

"Sam took good care of you," replied Dom with a grin. "Good old Sam."

"Yeah," replied Hawke while trying hard not to laugh. "We heard about how he took care of you once too."

"Oh?" asked Dom. "I don't recall that."

"You know, when you were shot in the…" Dom stopped him mid sentence.

"String, don't we have better things to talk about?" he asked. "You're the one in the hospital bed, not me."

Hawke smiled. "Sure," he replied. "We'll discuss that later.

"Good," replied Dom. "Much later."

Suddenly Hawke's spirit seemed to drop. "Hey," he asked. "Where's Caitlin? Is she okay?"

"Oh they're setting her up in another room," replied Michael. "They want to keep her overnight for observation because she lost consciousness for a short time after sustaining a head injury during the shooting."

"But she's okay isn't she?" he asked again.

"Sure kid," replied Dom. "She's fine and believe me she's giving them hell about it. She reminds me of you. I've never seen her so stubborn. It took me and Michael to convince her to stay and that was only after we promised her that she could come and see you."

String breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good," he replied. "I remember that she was hurt but everything else is kind of a blur."

"Okay, well, we're going to be heading out now," said Dom. "You need your rest. I'm sure she'll be in to see you soon."

"Sure," replied Hawke as he felt his eyelids getting heavy. "I am really tired."

Hawke didn't know how long he'd slept when he felt a cool hand on his. He opened his eyes to see Caitlin staring at him. She was sitting cross legged in a chair that she'd pushed all the way up to his bed.

"Hey," he said. "What time is it?"

Caitlin smiled. "It's about ten minutes until midnight."

"So I didn't miss the New Year after all," he said softly. "Will you turn on the television?"

"Sure," replied Caitlin as she got up and let go of his hand. She turned on the tiny television that was mounted in the corner of the room and fidgeted with the channels until the live New Year's broadcast came into view.

"Is this what you wanted?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said while reaching for her hand as she sat down again.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I've been better," he replied before giving her hand a light squeeze. "I'm glad you're here."

Caitlin blushed slightly. "Thanks," she said. "I wasn't expecting to spend the first part of the New Year in the hospital but at least we're not alone."

The two watched the ball drop in Times Square and listened as Dick Clark counted down to the New Year. When it reached zero, they looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.

"Happy New Year Caitlin," String finally said as he placed his hand behind her head and pulled her into a kiss.

Afterwards Caitlin smiled. "Happy New Year Hawke!"

"Oh, and Caitlin, there's something you need to know," String said with a serious look on his face.

"What's that?" she asked, unsure of where the conversation was headed.

"I would do anything for you too," he said. "For the same reason."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her heart now beating fast.

"I love you too," he replied.

Caitlin smiled at him. "Are you sure you're not still a bit delirious?" she asked.

Hawke laughed. "I'm sure," he replied. "But if it will make you feel any better, we'll discuss this further when we're both out of the hospital."

Caitlin reached over and kissed him again. "I'd like that," she replied with a grin. "I think this is going to be a good year after all."

"Me too," he said as he held her hand tightly. Together they watched as each time zone brought in the New Year."

**The End**


End file.
